United Kingdom: Getting where needed - obstacles to aid access

25-04-2013 Event

What obstacles prevent organizations like the ICRC from reaching those most in need? Senior humanitarian experts will discuss contemporary challenges to getting help to the vulnerable, asking whether bureaucratic, governmental and security barriers to assistance are getting higher in today's polarized world. Follow the discussion via Livestream.

Event Info

Where: London – Time: 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

When: 29.04.2013, 14:00 - 16:00

Over the years aid agencies have begged, pleaded and smuggled their way into hot spots, sometimes working with those in charge, sometimes defying them, to reach those in need. Humanitarians have had to innovate, retreat tactically, seek local partners, sub-contract, and re-package themselves and their work. But when does negotiating and haggling to get to where it counts lead to ugly compromise on sacred principles of impartiality and independence?

Senior figures in the humanitarian world will gather at the invitation of the Overseas Development Institute and the International Committee of the Red Cross to discuss the practical challenges organizations face in reaching those in need, and the strategies adopted to overcome them. The experts will address difficult access problems, setbacks and hindrances, and review what responses could be applied universally. The event will look at humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, Syria and Myanmar as examples to focus the discussion. Register here to follow the debate via Livestream.